


Bernadetta? At a party? It's more likely than you think!

by lacking_daisies



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Verdant Wind route, anxious bernie is anxious, no beta we die like Glenn, raphael is smiling so much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26809432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lacking_daisies/pseuds/lacking_daisies
Summary: Claude holds a feast after Nemesis' defeat and Bernadetta is determined to attend despite her mind screaming at her not to. Luckily, Raphael is here to save Bernie from spiraling.
Relationships: Raphael Kirsten/Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Bernadetta? At a party? It's more likely than you think!

Bernadetta could hear the revelry of the feast from inside her room. When Claude announced that a grand feast would be thrown to celebrate the defeat of Nemesis, she knew the feast would be much different than any Empire banquet she’d been forced to attend in her youth. Those banquets had been formal, stuffy, and her father always kept close watch on Bernadetta to make sure she was behaving as a good proper lady. No, no party thrown by Claude would be anything like that, especially one thrown with their Almyran allies. Had this been any other party, Bernadetta would not have even entertained the thought of attending. However, she knew this was one of the last opportunities she’d have to see all her friends and comrades in one place. Soon everyone would leave Garreg Mach and move on with their lives. So, she made a promise to herself that she would actually attend this feast and be with her friends one last time. Bernadetta didn’t actually tell anyone she’d planned on going to the party, but she had promised herself she would do this no matter what. But the loud buzz of talking, music, and singing from outside was starting to make her head spin and she felt the tendrils of anxiety starting to grip her.

_No! No, don’t do this Bernie. You have to do this,_ she scolded herself. She had to do this. Bernadetta didn’t have anyone else besides her few friends. And soon they would all be gone, without her. She had nowhere else to go. Bernadetta decided she would not return back to Varley, not for a long time. There were too many painful memories there. Only Uncle Alois and Lindhardt were staying behind in Garreg Mach. She had to say goodbye to her friends.

Before she could change her mind, Bernadetta closed her eyes, took a deep breath, opened her door, and stepped out. The cold night air prickled her skin. She stood still and waited. Nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the small courtyard in front of her room was empty. Bernadetta let out sigh of relief, at least no one saw her and that ridiculous display.

Bernadetta decided she needed to come up with a plan before venturing into the party. Plans always made her less anxious. She decided first heading to the dining hall and getting food would be the best. No one would think it strange if she came to get food alone and, hopefully, she would encounter one of her friends. If none of her friends were in the dining hall, she could leave quickly without looking weird or suspicious. Next, she could walk through the gardens and look for company. Lots of people would probably be walking around the gardens, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to do the same, right? And if she found no one in the gardens, then Bernadetta decided she would go the clearing her and Linhardt frequented because it was always quiet there and she could enjoy her dinner in peace. Then maybe once she had her dinner, she could go look for her friends again. And worst comes to worst, if she couldn’t find anyone, she could give up, return to her room in shame, and pretend nothing ever happened.

Bernadetta took a deep breath and nodded to herself. _Seems like a foolproof plan._ She felt infinitely better after making her plan. Bernadetta knew most people never pre-planned like she did, but she felt a little less anxious and that’s all that mattered.

With that out of the way, Bernadetta started to walk to the dining hall. As she got closer to the small fish lake and greenhouse, she noticed a few people milling about outside but it wasn’t too crowded. The noise coming out from the dining hall however was much louder. So very loud.

_You can do this, Bernie!_ she reminded herself as she walked up the stairs to the dining hall. _This feast will be so much better than the stifling Empire banquets. Plus, I have friends here. Everything will be fine._

Bernadetta finally arrived outside of the door of the dining hall. She took one last steadying breath and walked into the dining hall. The first thing Bernadetta noticed was she had never seen so many people packed in the dining hall. Logically, she knew there would be lots of people celebrating. There were already a large number of soldiers from Fódlan, and with the Almyran support brought in by Claude, the army was even larger. However, she was struck by the sheer number of people in the dining hall. The second thing Bernadetta noticed was the noise. The noise bleeding outside from the dining hall was nothing compared to the noise inside it. It was deafening to say the least.

This was all too much for Bernadetta to handle, so she quickly made her way to the kitchen counter where all different types of food were set up. Considering that food rations were undoubtedly scarce, there was quite a selection of foods, including dishes Bernadetta had never seen. She felt overwhelmed by the choices. Overwhelmed by food and overwhelmed by the noise, maybe this had been too much for her. Maybe she should just go back to her room…

_No! No, I will not go back to my room. Maybe the dining hall is too much for me, but surely the gardens must be quieter. Yes, yes, they must be. And I bet someone will be out there… Linhardt, maybe? Or would he even bother coming to the party? Caspar would probably drag him here. But would Caspar want to be in the gardens? I think he’d prefer to be in the thick of the party. Are they in here then? Is Dorothea with them? Would they even want me to join them? Raphael would definitely want me to join him, is he in here? Is he with other people? Would they want—_

“Bernadetta!”

Bernadetta was snapped out of her spiraling thoughts by a loud voice. She turned to see Raphael waving at her and joining her.

“Oh hi, Raphael,” she responded with a small smile. Thank the Goddess he found her.

“Wow, I didn’t know if you were coming or not… I’m so happy you did, though! So, are you getting food too? There are so many good dishes I’ve never seen before! Claude really went all out. Well, about as all out he could go, considering the circumstances,” he laughed. Bernadetta noticed that Raphael was always laughing, or at least smiling. She wondered what that was like.

“Yes, everything looks so wonderful. There are so many dishes I’ve never seen before. I assume they’re Almyran dishes.”

“Oh yeah, they’re really good! I’ve tried just about everything here, if you want any help picking out some dishes to try.”

Bernadetta decided to trust Raphael’s judgment and got all the foods he recommended her. She and Raphael had been sharing the meals she made at least once a week, so he probably knew which dishes she would like best. When she was done picking her dinner, she looked over at Raphael to see him holding two plates, piled high with various types of meat dishes.

“Is that all for you?” Bernadetta pointed to Raphael’s plate. She knew Raphael was a big eater, but it seemed like quite a lot of food for one person who had just admitted he’d already eaten everything once before.

Raphael laughed, “Oh no, Leonie, Ig, and I are sitting outside, and they wanted me to get more food for the three of us.”

Bernadetta nodded. Raphael, Ignatz, and Leonie were good friends, so it made sense they would be at this party together. She wondered if the three of them would want her to join them. Raphael would be okay with her tagging along and so would Leonie, but Bernadetta hadn’t spoken much to Ignatz. He seemed like a nice man and quite a capable marksman despite wearing glass. Or maybe because of his glasses... None of that mattered. Mostly Bernadetta just thinks Ignatz is inoffensive and kind. She wasn’t sure if he liked her though.

“Do you want to join us?” Raphael asked with a big smile on his face.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude…” Truthfully Bernadetta was relieved he asked her, but she didn’t want to seem like she was anticipating him asking. Plus, she really didn’t want to intrude on them.

“What? No, you wouldn’t be intruding. Leonie will be thrilled to have you. And Ig will be happy to talk to someone who understand all his art lingo. He tries to hide it, but I can tell he gets frustrated talking to me and Leonie since we aren’t the artistic type,” he laughed. “But, no, trust me, you won’t be intruding,” he looked at her with eager eyes.

“If it’s really okay, I’ll join you guys,” Bernadetta looked up and smiled at him.

“Yes! We’re outside, so follow me,” he gestured with his head towards the door. “It's going to be so much more fun with you joining us,” he beamed at her then started out the door.

Bernadetta stared at him for a moment. Did Raphael really enjoy her company that much? She felt butterflies in her stomach at that thought. _Oh dear…_ She hurried and followed Raphael out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, so this is my first fanfic ever... I haven't written any type of fiction/creative writing since I was 13, so this is super new to me. But I've come to the realization that perhaps I can actually write out all the little scenarios I make up in my head lol. Anyway I absolutely adore Bernie and relate to her a lot (anxiety is brutal everyone). I tried to make this sort of stream of conscious-y in Bernadette's head, so hopefully that wasn't offputting lol. Anxiety, as I experience, is a lot of thoughts. Way too many. And Bernie strikes me as a character that thinks way too much about everything.  
> Anyway I love Raphael and Bernadetta; they deserve the world (and more fics) so here I am.


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